Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was such a long street. Lu Bancheng, who didn’t know Xu Wennuan’s whereabouts, was afraid that he would miss her, as well as afraid that she would become impatient from waiting. The pace of his footsteps alternated between slow and fast, and he would turn around occasionally to glance at the path behind him.
Just when he was about to reach the bar at the end of the path, Lu Bancheng caught sight of Xu Wennuan, only 20 feet away. She was curled up and squatting beneath a streetlight. His footsteps came to a gradual stop.
He watched her quietly for a moment before taking long strides over to her and pulling her up from the ground. The sudden odor of alcohol assaulted his nostrils and caused him to frown. When Lu Bancheng looked at Xu Wennuan’s face, her eyes were unfocused and she was evidently drunk.
How long has she been squatting here in this cold weather? Her skin is like ice…
Lu Bancheng swiftly removed his coat and was just about to drape it around Xu Wennuan when she sensed his presence and lifted her head. She forced her eyes open and tried her best to look at him. She smiled. “Wu Hao, you’re here…”
Lu Bancheng’s fingers were digging into his coat and trembling slightly. He forcefully wrapped the coat around Xu Wennuan with a cold expression on his face.
The roughness of his movements caused her discomfort and made her frown. She pouted coquettishly. “Wu Hao, I waited for you for such a long time. Wu Hao…” As she said that, she dived into Lu Bancheng’s embrace.
Lu Bancheng’s back tensed up. He wanted to push Xu Wennuan away, but before his fingers even landed on her elbows, he felt her shoulders shaking in his arms, as if she were crying. Lu Bancheng felt like he had been struck by lightning. He allowed her to lean against him and did not move or say anything.
Not long afterward, the sounds of her crying reached his ears and pounded on his heart so hard that he pursed his lips. She continued crying for quite a while. Lu Bancheng sighed softly. He brought the hand he initially had wanted to use to cast her out of his embrace to her back and started patting her slowly. He coaxed her without any words, and she continued to cry.
Lu Bancheng lowered his gaze and looked at the top of her head. Finally, he bent down to pick her up and headed for the parking lot. He took her to her apartment first but, even after digging through her purse, her house keys were nowhere to be found. Lu Bancheng could only carry her back downstairs, place her in the car, and take her back to his apartment.
Once inside, he set her down on the couch before squatting down to remove her shoes. Then, he went to the bathroom to get a basin of barely warm water so he could place her icy feet inside. After warming her feet up, he wiped them dry, picked her up again, and took her to the master bedroom, where he laid her down on his bed.
The effect of the alcohol, when combined with the warm bed, allowed her to fall asleep immediately. Lu Bancheng stood beside the bed and stared fixedly at her pretty face for a while. When he shifted his gaze to the corner of her eye, he saw a tear hanging there, looking as though it was about to fall.
He remained there for a long time before he bent over and wiped away that tear. Then, he turned off the light and left the room.
…
When Xu Wennuan woke up, it was already 10:00 in the morning the following day. She was shocked by her unfamiliar surroundings and jolted up in bed while throwing the blanket off herself. She only sighed in relief when she saw she was still wearing her clothes fully intact.
Last night, she might have called Wu Hao in her muddled state after she had gotten drunk.